With national letter of intent day coming up, and with the Dispatch unlikely to waste much time on Soccer recruiting, we hereby present Fred's Fearless Recruiting Newsletter. OSU Head Coach John Bluem is taking a page from Jim Tressel - he's keeping them at home. These players have made verbal committments. DJ Catrow, Springfield Central Catholic, All American Brent Rohrer, Midfielder, Springfield Central Catholic Robbie Strachen, Forward, Hudson, Taylor Korpieski, Midfielder, Thomas Worthington, All American With only 9.9 scholarships, this is a big chunk of roster. A couple of them may be offered partials. Nonetheless, adding the big Ohio prizes the next two years, Hudson Junior Forward Xavier Balc (04), one of only seven Junior AA's, and Kenny Willis from Youngstown Mooney (05) the ONLY Sophomiore AA, could make this program a national power. (I don't know if either are interested, but I'll bet you dinner Bluem wants them both badly) Other Ohio players of note: Dublin Coffman Keeper Chad Pickett to U of K Thomas Worthington Keeper Matt Gardner to Akron No info on All American Keeper Casey Lachem of Perrysburg, All American David Kirby out of Mentor or David Hoffman of Kettering Alter. (If there's a down side, it may be that Penn State appears to have struck the mother lode. Just a killer class. Indiana is rumored to be struggling a bit since Yeaglet won't be around)
That's nice. I wish I knew who these people were. At least I recognized names in the MLS draft, but here, I'm clueless.
Catrow is the real deal. Tough, fast, great vision, excellent skills. May project to a defender. Korpieski may need to add some weight - he looks like Kyle Martinos' kid brother. Strachen is pure striker. Also keep an eye on Keeper Steven Sandbo from Upper Arlington. I think he's probably only a Junior this year, but it's hard to tell - he's with the US U17 residency in Bradenton, and should be on the team for the U17 World Championships this March (April?). He has worked out, quietly, with the Crew. He could solidify a defense in a hurry.
Hey Bill, could you point me in the direction you've found some of this info? It seems to be next to impossible to find any info on anything other than basketball and football recruiting. I think you can figure out what school I'm interested in
You forgot Tony Labudovski a midfielder from Reynoldsburg who plays for Blast FC. He was an AA this year as well, although I don't know what class he is in.
So, I haven't had time to look - how did the Men's team there at Kent do last season anyway? Oh, that's right, Kent DOESN'T EVEN HAVE A MEN'S TEAM, JUST a girl's team. Sorry. Tee hee.
Update: Ohio All American Dustin Kirby out of Mentor has announced he will sign with OSU. If you're keeping track, that's three NSCAA All Americans. And for Plow: Five verbals as of now for PSU: Jeffrey Chambers, (Pa.), FC Delco, MF Brian Tully, (Md.), Baltimore Bays, F Jason Wilkins, (Iowa), Bradenton Academy (Fla.), D Matt Novchich, TC Roberson (N.C.), MARA 84 Blue, GK Simon Omekanda, Rochester Adams (Mich.), Vardar III, F Omekanda has spent time with the National program, although there are some citizenship issues which are keeping him off the U17's. He's probably the best forward in the country. Chambers was recruited by everybody - including UVA, UCLA, etc. All American, instant impact. Top five class - if they all sign tomorrow. St Louis will have the top class by far. OSU may be top ten.
I tell you what, Andy Geiger is the best AD in college sports right now. Everything he has done has improved OSU sports. From the new facilities to the coaches he has brought in, all winners. A few more years and OSU could be a powerhouse in soccer as well, especially with Jesse Owens Track & Field complex. Show me a University with a better complex to play soccer at. There is none.(although, St Louis is building one) That will have an enourmous effect on recruting in years to come. My only wish is that people in Columbus would go out and support OSU soccer the way they support youth soccer and the Crew. I for one, plan to go to a few games in the fall.
i'll tell you why. it's college soccer... time outs, goofy sub rules, clock counting down... some may think it's worse than 1996 MLS.
Thanks for the info Bill. We ought to have a pretty good team next year. Add in these recruits to a team that only loses a couple key players, and returns a very good keeper, the future is bright.
I think the new SYL and PDL teams will improve OSU soccer even more in central OH. With OSU players playing in the "true" premier amatuer league in the US and central ohio youth are brought in from their US club teams to play on the premier youth developement league in the US.
There are quite a few universities with comparable facilities... Indiana, UVa, Portland... actually Emory University in Atlanta probably has an even nicer facility... no running track to limit the size of the field. I agree the Owens facility is very good, but claiming it is the best may show a bit of Buckeye-bias. Last year at a coaching conference, I heard an idea that was being proposed by many college coaches: a split season... playing in Fall and Spring. The biggest complaint by most coaches has little to do with the terrible rule changes (ie timeouts and unlimited subbing) and more to do with the lack of games. The NCAA seems to have very small regard for soccer, but the idea of a split season sounds like it would work. I think it would be unwise to ignore the talent heading to Ohio Wesleyan and Otterbein every year. Often times, DI talent heads for DII or DIII schools. You will see that OWU on many lists of players top 3 choices. Coach Martin has built such an incredible powerhouse there that he can battle DI schools in recruiting. They actually have a nice soccer stadium there, too.
IU's soccer complex is very nice, and Virginia's is hands down the best in the nation. Although, the Owen's facility is quite nice. Jeffery Field at PSU isn't much to look out, but it is home, and the actual pitch is very nice
I actually think that the track around OSU's pitch would be a disadvantage to the OSU when they play teams with wider fields. College soccer has serious problems though... Bruce Arena has spoken very openly about how it does not prepare players for the next level. There are too few games for that and PDL can only provide so much experience. Players should be with one coach over many years, not their college, club and PDL coaches in one season alone. Klinnsman recently spoke about that as what he sees as the biggest problem for US soccer as it is now. Look at how many players are making the P40 jump straight to professional. I would hope that the NCAA would look at how their regulations could be improved.
I agree with that. NCAA needs to step more into line with FIFA rules in order to improve their play and ability to produce future professionals. Even changing the substitution rule where 5 players can be replaced would help make college a better amatuer option. The clock thing doesn't bother me too much at all, nor the time outs. I don't agree with how players should be with one coach for a long time. I think it is better to get different perspectives. One coach maybe more able to teach a skill and another coach a different skill. If the player can put the two lessons together he becomes a better player for it. It happens at the professional level all the time when players go to the national team and/or are loaned to other teams. No reason it shouldn't be done at the amatuer level. As for field width. OSU has the soccer demensions as 76 yds X 116yds. So OSU has a good size pitch to play on. I might have been a little OSU centric when I stated that OSU had the best college grounds in the game. Sue me. Bill, I wouldn't worry about Crewmudgeon too much, he's shown his mental ability with posts like "YAWN!" and "Do you kiss your boyfriend with that mouth!" Which kind of makes me believe he has a secert wish to have something stuck in his mouth. Chew some gum, it will help with your oral fixation.